Rickettsial spotted fever in capoeirão village, Itabira, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The present study investigated the infection by spotted fever rickettsia in an endemic area for Brazilian spotted fever (BSF; caused by Rickettsia rickettsii) in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Human, canine and equine sera samples, and Amblyomma cajennense adult ticks collected in a rural area of Itabira City, Minas Gerais State were tested for rickettsial infection. Through Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) we demonstrated the presence of antibodies anti-R. rickettsii in 8.2%, 81.3% and 100% of the human, canine and equine sera, respectively. None of the 356 tick specimens analyzed were positive for Rickettsia by the hemolymph test or Polymerase Chain Reaction technique (PCR) for the htrA and the gltA genes. Our serological results on horses and dogs (sentinels for BSF) appoint for the circulation of a SFG Rickettsia in the study area, however in a very low infection rate among the A. cajennense tick population.
Vianna
Manoella Campostrini Barreto
MC
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Preventive Veterinary Medicine Department, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Horta
Maurício Claudio
MC
Sangioni
Luis Antônio
LA
Cortez
Adriana
A
Soares
Rodrigo Martins
RM
Mafra
Cláudio Lisias
CL
Galvão
Márcio Antônio Moreira
MA
Labruna
Marcelo Bahia
MB
Gennari
Solange Maria
SM
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004285:Dogs; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006736:Horses; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000662:veterinary; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial